Kenedy closed out the non-district schedule defeating the Ganado Indians by a score of 51-40. The Lions jumped out to a 7-0 lead before the Indians could get on the board.

“We played very good defense for three quarters”, said Coach Connell.

The Indianscame back to make it a tight contest at halftime, 18-13. The Lions led by Dominic Cruz,21 pts, and Andre Martinez, 10 pts, came out firing the third quarter. The Lions outscored Ganado 18-6 in the third to give Kenedy a 36-19 lead going into the 4th quarter.

It was a lead the Lions would not give up. “Jacob Asebedo did a great job of slowing down the Indians start player, and get us into our offense”, Coach Connell said.

The Kenedy Lions opened up district play at Three Rivers. The Lions came out on fire outscoring the Bulldogs 24-9 in the first quarter. “It seemed like we could not miss the first quarter”, said Coach Connell. The Bulldogs scratched and clawed their way back into the game with a 16-9 second quarter, but the Lions took the lead into halftime 33-25.

After some halftime adjustments, the Lions increase the defensive intensity, and starting hitting shots. The Lions outscored the Bulldogs in the third quarter 17-13, and kept it rolling in the 4th. “Andre Martinez had a great night, he hit shots and played outstanding defense on Huerta.”

Tuesday night, the Kenedy Lions traveled to Falls City to take on the Beavers. “This has been a fun rivalry the last couple of years. The last three years, we were able to beat them at our place, but Falls City is a very tough place to play.” The crowds wereinto the game from the beginning. Falls City came out strong from the opening tip, but the Lions were able to scratch and claw to stay in the game.

By the time the first quarter was over, Falls City was up 12-10. It was a battle of wills, as two great teams fought to the end in a game no one wanted to lose. The game went back and forth in the second quarter. When halftime rolled around, the Falls City Beaver were leading the Kenedy Lions 29-23. “We know it was going to be a battle in the second half, and we were going to have to step it up to win this game.” The third quarter was back and forth. “It seemed like every time we knocked down a shot, Falls City had an answer.”

With Falls City up 41-37 going into the 4th quarter, it was still anybody’s game. The Lions had some critical mistakes, throwing the ball away on several possessions. The Lions never gave up, and fought to the end. With a 1:47 left on the clock, the Kenedy coach called timeout with the score tied 47-47.

With both fans yelling, Graham Lawrence was able to know down 2 free throws to give the Lions a 49-47 lead. The Falls City Beavers came down and tied the score 49-49 with less than a minute left in the game.

The defense stepped up for both sides. Until with 26 seconds left on the clock, Andre Martinez was fouled. He calmly stepped up to the line, and knocked down two big free throws to give the Lions a 2 point lead, 51-49.

With both crowds really into the game, the place was almost deafening. With the Lions fans yelling defense, and the Beaver fans yelling offense, the game came down to 26 seconds. The Beavers had 4 shots to tie or win the game. Dominic Cruz was able to corral the rebound, and called timeout with 2 seconds left on the clock.

With an inbounds pass, the Kenedy Lions were able to pull out the victory. “I had a hard time communicating with the team it was so loud. This was a fun game. It is very hard to win at Falls City. I credit my team with not giving up and fighting to the end. I told them at halftime, lets hang around, and try to win it at the end. I am so proud of team.” Leading scorer for the Lions was Andre